THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH

BIBLE CLASS STYLE LESSONS.

Romans 1:16-17 For I am
not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation
for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
17 For in it the righteousness of
God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The
just shall live by faith.”

All articles are written
using the NKJV, unless
otherwise noted! All articles are written by David Hicks, unless specified
otherwise.

Witnesses to Me

To The End of the Earth!

- A Study
In Acts-

Chapter Seventeen –
Second Journey of Paul Continued

ACTS 17:16-21:

We began
this journey with Paul and Silas in
Antioch of Syria;
they then traveled through the rest of
Syria
and through the region of
Cilicia
strengthening the Bodies of Christ
along the way. When they came to the area of the two cities of
Lystra and Derbe,
they will pick up young Timothy to travel with them. They delivered the
decrees to these cities which strengthened them to a productive unity. From
here they will travel to two new areas of Asia Minor;
Phrygia and Galatia.
Luke does not record anything about these visits and Paul will not return to
these regions until
Chapter 19.

Passing
through the region of Mysia (having been forbidden by the Spirit of God to
go into Asia and Bithynia at this time), Paul and his group have come to
Troas.
Here at Troas, Paul will have a vision encouraging him to go to Macedonia
and bring the Gospel. As they determine to go to Macedonia, we learn that
Luke joins them.

They set
out across the Aegean Sea and cross with relative ease, stopping at the
island of
Samothrace,
and the next day arriving at
Neapolis,
the sea port town for Philippi. From Neapolis they head straight to
Philippi,
the chief city of this region. While here, Paul would live the very words
that he would later instruct the Philippian Christians to practice after him
(Philippians
4:8-9). He would go on to bring the Gospel to already religious
people, produce good works in the face of adversity, and never allow an
opportunity to preach the Gospel of Jesus as the Christ to pass. There would
be great success in the power of the Gospel at Philippi.

From
Philippi, Paul will travel to
Thessalonica
and preached to the Jews and devout Greeks in the synagogue with good
success. The unbelieving Jews would stir up a mob and attempt to bring Paul
and his traveling companions out to the people. This would be unsuccessful;
however, it forced the brethren to send Paul and Silas away by night to
Berea.
Paul would enter the synagogue and bring the Gospel of Jesus as the Christ
to these Jews with a much different universal result. They searched, proved,
and readily accepted Paul’s evidence and teaching; however, Jews from
Thessalonica came to Berea and stirred up trouble there. The brethren sent
Paul away by ship to
Athens,
and that is where we will pick up in this lesson.

Acts 17:16-21“Now
while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him
when he saw that the city was given over to idols.
17
Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile
worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be
there.
18
Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some
said, “What does this babbler want to say?”

Others
said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods,” because he preached to
them Jesus and the resurrection.

19And they
took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this
new doctrine is of which you speak?
20For you are
bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what
these things mean.”
21For all the
Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else
but either to tell or to hear some new thing.”

Waited for
Them: We start
out here in Athens with Luke mentioning Paul waiting. We must remember back
to the last lesson and Paul’s instruction for Silas and Timothy to come to
him in Athens. Paul’s need to leave Berea swiftly caused them to be left
behind. Timothy, we will find out was with the brethren in Thessalonica (1
Thessalonians 3:1-3), and Silas in Berea.

Given Over
to Idols: Many cities
Paul has and will enter in his work to bring the Gospel of Jesus as the
Christ would likewise be given over to idolatry. Athens, as we discussed in
our last lesson, was still the seat of Greek art,
science, and philosophy and was the most important University City in the
ancient world; which also included the vast worship of their many gods.

Synagogue
and Marketplace: Luke
records the existence of a synagogue of the Jews, even in this climate of
idolatry in Athens. Paul, as was his custom, begins his work here, but
additionally, works in the marketplace daily with all there. It is here,
that he will gain the attention of certain philosophers.

Epicurean
Philosophers:
Epicureanism
is a system of philosophy based upon the teachings of Epicurus. Epicurus was
a Greek philosopher that began his work over three hundred years prior to
this encounter by Paul. He was the ultimate materialist, which set him
against all superstition or Divine intervention, even to the point of attack
against even the mention.

He taught his followers to find a state of
“Ataraxia” (the Greek word for
tranquility), which was much more than just eat, drink, and be merry. He
taught that pleasure was of course the greatest good; but additionally, the
best way to achieve this true state of tranquility was to seek knowledge of
all the wisdom of the working of this world and the limits of one’s desires!

Stoic Philosophers:
About the same time that the Epicurean philosophy was born; additionally;
the stoic philosophy was born by the Greek thinker ‘Zeno of Citium’. It
should be noted before we even describe this philosophy that Stoics and
Epicureans were antagonists of one another’s philosophies, and much of what
would develop in the three hundred years from their birth to when Paul would
come across them, came because of the conflicts between the philosophies.
The Stoics viewed all moral corruptions as vicious to the stoic calm they
sought to achieve. They sought to achieve a
‘Prohairesis’ (the Greek word for
‘moral character’ or ‘moral choice’); it represents the choice involved in
rigid self-denial rather that the easier giving in to desires, in order to
find true happiness.

The encounter in the market place of the philosophers was met with
skepticism as some of them called him a
“Babbler”; which is from a bird,
also known as a “seed picker”, which was known to pick up seeds and spread
them.

Others stated that he was a
“Proclaimer of Foreign gods”. This is from the Greek rendering, better
translated as “foreign demons”. The Greeks believed superstitiously that
great men died and became demons in honor of their achievements. These
thought that Paul’s preaching concerning Jesus and the resurrection was
speaking of just such a case.

In any case, they were interested in knowing more about what Paul had to say
about this doctrine he was teaching in the marketplace. This will make much
more sense when we learn about the purpose of the Areopagus!

Areopagus:
The Areopagus was both a place and an order that met there. So, first, let
us take a look at the place.

The location of the Areopagus was on what was at that time referred to as
Mar’s Hill, or the “Rock of Ares”. At one time the meeting place on this
Hill, was for the Greeks, the place of their High Court; however, when Rome
became the prevailing power, they Hill became the place for the council of
the Areopagus to congregate.

Here is a modern day picture of the Areopagus looking down from the
Acropolis.

This next picture is a view from below the steps leading up to the summit.

The council that met at this location originally was an
ancient council of elders, which usually combined judicial and legislative
functions. At the time of Paul’s visit to Athens, the council now acts only
as a collective magnet for teaching and information from around the world
(much more academic than legal). This helps us understand the desire to have
Paul speak before them.